Gun-cleaner.



No. 642,672. Patented Feb. 6-, I900. W. L. BRENNAN.

G U N C L E A N E R.

(Application filed Sept. 7, 1899.)

(No Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VILLIAM L. BRENNAN, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

GUN-CLEANER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 642,672, dated February 6, 1900.

Application filed September 7, 1899. Serial No. 729,789. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM L. BRENNAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, county of Suffolk, State of Massachusetts, haveinvented an Improvement in Gun- Cleaners, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is aspecification, like letters and numerals on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention relates to a gun-cleaner, and it is of peculiar advantage in cleaning out rifled guns, the construction being such that when the device is drawn through the gun it removes thoroughlyall adhering scale, particles of rust, 860.

The improved device includes in its construction a series of projections adapted to enter the grooves of the riding of a gun, thereby to take off any scale or dirt that may have been deposited thereon by constant firings or by long non-use. In the present case the appliance is provided with a series of independent cleaning members preferably detachably mounted and which are in the nature of segments of the riding of the gun to be cleaned, and the projecting portions of these segments of course enter the grooves of the rifling, while the faces of said cleaning members work against the lands of the riding, and in practice the interior of the gun prior to cleaning is sprinkled with powdered emery or some such substance, which facilitates the operation as the cleaning device is drawn back and forth in the gun-bore.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a cleaning device constructed in accordance with my invention in a simple embodiment thereof. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same, and Fig. 3 is a detail view showing a different kind of cleaner. Fig. 4 is a detail plan View of one of the springs.

The device in the form thereof represented in the drawings includes in its construction a body portion 01' carrier, which may be of any suitable character. That shown isdenoted by B, and it is of substantially cylindrical skeleton form, having a central hub 12 to receive the supporting-spindle or centerpin 13. From this construction it will be evident that the body portion or carrier B turns or rotates upon said spindle. The body portion is held against movement longitudinally of the spindle 13 in some suitable manner, as by means of the nuts 14 and 15 at 0pposite sides of the carrier, and in threaded engagement with the spindle, the washers 16 and 17 being interposed between the respec tive nuts and the carrier. A pair of swivel links is shown at 18 and 19, these being united to the opposite ends of the spindle, and to the same pieces of rope or cable can be connected, whereby the cleaner can be drawn in opposite directions through a gun-bore.

The cleaner involves in the form thereof represented a series of independently-active cleaning members, which are shown as being of substantially similar construction and each of which is denoted by O.

The cleaners O, which are shown as being four in number, consist, preferably, of longitudinal plates arranged in circular order about the axis of the spindle 13 and having upon their working faces segments of the ritling to be cleaned. Each cleaner is shown as having upon its working face two projections, as 20 and 21, which are adapted to enter the grooves of the riding. WVhen these projections 20 and 21 of the several cleaners,

which extend entirely along the same, are seated in the rifle-grooves and when the de vice as a whole is pulled back and forth, they will thoroughly clean the grooves of the riflin g, while the working faces of said members will act against the lands of the rifling in such a manner as to also clean the latter, the inside of the bore being usually sprinkled with emery-powder or some like material to aid the cleaning operation.

Each of the cleaners O is spring-controlled, the springs serving to hold the same firmly in contact with the wall of the bore and also permitting slight retractivo movement of the same in case any obstructions of unusual size are encountered. The springs are each denoted by 25, and they are of the bowed type, being secured substantially centrally to the pivot-pins 26, disposed radially to the spindle 13, and consequently the body portion B, and extending through openings formed in the rim 28 of said body portion.

The body portion or carrier B is of substantially wheel-like form, it comprising the hub 12 and the rim 28,previously mentioned,which are united bya series of radial spokes 29.

The springs 25 are detachably held to the pivots 26 by means of screws 30, and the pivots extend through the rim 2S and are held against withdrawal by means of pins, as 31, passing through openings located between said rim and the hub. By removing these holdingpins 31 the pivots 20 can be easily removed and others of a different length substituted in their stead, so as to adapt the cleaner as a whole to a gun of a different caliber.

The bowed springs 25, which, it will be remembered, are secured centrally to the pivots 26, are connected at their outer ends to the cleaner members 0 by means of screws, as 35, extending through longitudinal slots 36, formed near said ends, and adapted to be seated in internally-threaded openings formed at the opposite ends and upon the inner sides 0 the several cleaning members (3.

From the preceding description it will be evident that the body portion or carrier B can freely turn upon its supporting-spindle 13 as the device is drawn through the gun-barrel and that the several cleaning members can independently turn upon their pivots during such operation.

The cleaning members 0 are constructed, preferably, of some suitable metal and when they have performed their work they will preferably be removed and cleaning members of a different kind substituted therefor, so as to polish off the inside of the gun, and these substitute members have a soft cleaning-surface adapted to come in contact with the wall of the bore and they may be of felt. In Fig. 3 I have illustrated one of these substitute or secondary cleaning members. When the latter are to be used, the set of primary cleaning members will be detached and a set of auxiliary cleaning members secured to the respective springs 25.

The secondary cleaner shown is denoted by O, and it comprises a backing, as 40, which may be in the form of a metal plate secured by means of the screws 35 to the bowed spring 25. To this plate the felt body 41 is secured in some suitable manner, as by glue, and the several felts or pads when in use finish off the inside of the gun, initially cleaned by the several parts 0, although in some cases this secondary and final operation is not necessary.

The invention is not limited to the particular construction previously set forth, for this can be materially modified within the scope of the appended claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A gun-cleaner having a body provided with a cleaning part, the working surface of which has projections that enter and move along the rifling-grooves of a gun as said cleaner is drawn back and forth therein.

2. A gun-cleaner having a body provided with a cleaning part, the working surface of which has projections that enter and move along the rifling-grooves of a gun as said cleaner is drawn back and forth therein, in combination with a spindle upon which said body is mounted to turn.

3. A gun-cleaner having a body portion, and a series of independently-movable cleaning members thereon, the working surfaces of which are provided with projections that enter and move along the grooves of the rifling of a gun, as said cleaner is drawn back and forth therein.

4. A gun-cleanerhaving a memberprovided with a working portion consisting of a segment of the rifling of the gun to be cleaned, the projecting portions of which enter and move along the grooves of the rifling of a gun as said cleaner is drawn through the same.

5. Agun-cleanerhavingabody portion provided with a series of independent longitudinal cleaning members, the working faces of which consist of segments of the rifling of the gun to be cleaned, and the projecting portions of which enter and move along the grooves of the rifling of agun as said cleaner is drawn through the same.

6. A gun-cleaner having a body portion provided with a series of independent, yieldingly-mouuted, longitudinal cleaning members, the working faces of which consist of segments of the rifling of the gun tobe cleaned, and the projecting portions of which enter and move along the grooves of the riding of a gun as said cleaner is drawn through the same.

7. A gun-cleaner including a spindle, a body portion rotative upon said spindle, a series of pivots mounted to turn upon the body portion, bowed springs connected to the pivots, and a series of cleaning members movable upon said pivots and secured to the opposite ends of the respective springs.

8. A gun-cleaner including a body portion provided with a series of independent metal plates constituting cleaning members and provided with projections extending entirely along the same that enter the grooves of the riding of a gun and to move along the same.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM L. BRENNAN.

\Vitnesses:

JOHN C. EDWARDS, EMMA J. BENNETT. 

